But putting money on your prediction is the very definition of gambling, and that seems like a pretty ridiculous course of action when the only thing you have to gain is the ability to play the game a few days/weeks ahead of time.

Or the ability to save $15-20 dollars, which usually takes at least a month to happen otherwise. Unless you pirate every game beforehand, every purchase is a gamble. There's no guarantee that you will enjoy any given game, no matter how sparkling its reviews and word of mouth may be. You are the only one who can determine what you find enjoyable.

Yes, you can predict whether or not a game will be good or not. But putting money on your prediction is the very definition of gambling, and that seems like a pretty ridiculous course of action when the only thing you have to gain is the ability to play the game a few days/weeks ahead of time. And don't get me started with "exclusive DLC" and every other carrot-on-a-stick scenario publishers are spewing forth in efforts to sell copies before the masses realize how shitty the games are. A game is supposed to be its own incentive.

Exclusive weapons!New maps!Bonus Experience!Beta access!

Quick, preorder now and secure your very own spiked dildo to be rammed sideways up your ass on release day! Supplies are limited!

Jerykk wrote on Jul 1, 2012, 19:30:Pretty amazing how Arma 2 has held on to the top spot for so long. Goes to show the power that mods can have. Hopefully more publishers and developers will actively support modding.

I'm have a feeling a lot of the reason it is still up there is due to the mass global bans recently. Cheaters gotta cheat.

Which is why Counter Stirke is always up there as well....when it goes on sale, I think some people buy a lot of copies.

Except Steam hasn't had a sale on ArmA2 for quite some time. It's selling at full price but people are still keeping it at the top of the chart.

No, you can't. I've had my share of experiences being burned on games that were touted as the best thing since sliced bread and then ended up being shit. No one can KNOW whether a game is good or not before the game is RELEASED.

Technically, you can't know whether or not you enjoy a game until you play it. Doesn't matter if you pre-order it or buy it 6 months later. Until you actually play it yourself, you don't know whether or not you'll like it.

And who says I haven't played it already? I've made it abundantly clear I own a PS3 and surely somebody as well versed as you in pirating PC games knows the ease with which anyone can trial anything.

In another thread, you mentioned that you bought MP3 and were "steeling yourself for disappointment." I assumed that meant you hadn't actually played it yet and weren't expecting the game to live up to the reviews and/or word of mouth.

If you believed that, you wouldn't be posting on forums. After a game is released it has enough exposure, critical and layman, for objective opinions to be formed. Not before. Everything else is just hype... especially the fevered ravings of E3 attendees presented in all their shaky-cam glory.

I don't post on forums in order to make purchasing choices. I post on forums to engage in videogame-related discussions and see how other people's opinions compare to my own.

Also, there's no such thing as an objective opinion. Opinions are inherently subjective. If an opinion were objective, it wouldn't be an opinion. It would be a fact. The fact is that only your opinion matters when it comes to your own personal entertainment. 20 million people apparently think CoD is GotY ever year but that means absolutely nothing if you don't enjoy it yourself.

As I mentioned before, if you pay attention to gaming news, interviews, media, etc, you can generally predict whether or not you'll enjoy a game by examining its mechanics. Take Splinter Cell: Conviction, for example. When I learned of the Mark & Execute mechanic, the binary shadow system and the inability to move bodies, it became clear to me that the game was going to be more of a shooter than a stealth game. The gameplay walkthroughs only added further credence to this. When the game came out, lo and behold, it was more of a shooter than a stealth game. Or take DX:HR. When I learned that it had a radar and third-person cover system, I instantly knew that I wouldn't like those elements. However, by reading interviews, I learned that the cover system was optional. Everything else I had seen and read of the game pointed towards it being good, so I was willing to overlook the radar issue. I bought the game and enjoyed it greatly.

Now I'm going to make some predictions about the games I've recently pre-ordered. I predict Darksiders 2 will be more of the same, only with more customization and loot and a larger game world. I predict Hitman: Absolution will have a mix of linear, scripted, story-driven missions and large, open-ended, sandbox missions. Probably a 40/60 ratio between them. I predict that I'll absolutely hate the Instinct mode but thankfully won't ever have to use it. I predict that the AI will probably not be very intelligent if you decide to go guns blazing, as has been the case in previous games and was shown in E3 shaky-cam footage. In regards to Far Cry 3, I expect many of the side-missions to be very linear and scripted. The game will likely have a lot of first-person cinematics with little to no interaction beyond button mashing. I predict the game will likely be too easy, especially with the new upgrade system.

Jerykk wrote on Jul 1, 2012, 19:30:Pretty amazing how Arma 2 has held on to the top spot for so long. Goes to show the power that mods can have. Hopefully more publishers and developers will actively support modding.

I'm have a feeling a lot of the reason it is still up there is due to the mass global bans recently. Cheaters gotta cheat.

Which is why Counter Stirke is always up there as well....when it goes on sale, I think some people buy a lot of copies.

No, you can't. I've had my share of experiences being burned on games that were touted as the best thing since sliced bread and then ended up being shit. No one can KNOW whether a game is good or not before the game is RELEASED.

We don't have a better sense of how games are going to turn out because gaming journalism (if it can be called that at all) is in an abysmal state. Taking two recent examples of games that were released FUBAR, am I really supposed to believe that the issues that plagued both Sword of the Stars 2 and Stronghold 3 at release were missed by all of the previewers in the umpteen previews on dozens of gaming media outlets? Previews are not supposed to be free good press cheerleading pieces- they are supposed to give an honest appraisal of what works, what doesn't, how game mechanics feel, what needs to be improved before release, what isn't likely to get fixed prior to release given time constraints, etc. Granted even well-written previews (they used to exist) can't comment on things like game length, quality of the overall story, last minute bugs, etc., but they could sure be a whole lot more helpful to gamers if they weren't just gushing editorials delivered as if they were written by drooling fanboys.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” - Mahatma Gandhi

I've only preordered a handful of games, but I haven't been burned by any of them.

Someone mentioned Diablo III. I did not preoder it because there were plenty of warning signs.I did not preorder SR3, despite the $20 off and despite adoring SR2. It had warning signs.I did preorder Skyrim, Arkham City, Gears of War 3, and a few others I can't remember, all for $20 off. Got my money out of all. All 3 were pretty clearly more of the same, a same I enjoyed, and a same I knew was worth $40 to me.

There are absolutely games you can smartly preorder. Maybe not many, but the do exist.

If you keep up with gaming news and pay attention to the details, you can usually get a good sense for how a game will end up.

No, you can't. I've had my share of experiences being burned on games that were touted as the best thing since sliced bread and then ended up being shit. No one can KNOW whether a game is good or not before the game is RELEASED. I can buy Max Payne 3 for $30 because it's been out for a month. This was the perfect example of a game which ten years ago I might have purchased on day one because it was presented so well (Rockstar know how to sell games). But lo and behold, it releases to tepid response and, in four short weeks, I find it at a price point far more deserving of the product being delivered, not the product being sold.

And who says I haven't played it already? I've made it abundantly clear I own a PS3 and surely somebody as well versed as you in pirating PC games knows the ease with which anyone can trial anything.

Word of mouth can be useful but again, the only opinion that really matters is your own.

If you believed that, you wouldn't be posting on forums. After a game is released it has enough exposure, critical and layman, for objective opinions to be formed. Not before. Everything else is just hype... especially the fevered ravings of E3 attendees presented in all their shaky-cam glory.

That isn't my point, my point is how utterly idiotic it is buying a game that nobody has played (beyond some shill "journalists") based on preview material designed by the developers to showcase only the very best aspects of their product. It's fucking insane. No developer has the kind of respect or consistency of quality that warrants such dedication. The Diablo 3 fiasco is a pretty good indicator of as much.

Actually, a whole lot of people played Hitman: Absolution and Far Cry 3 at E3. They were on the show floor. I think Darksiders 2 was there as well.

As for D3, it was pretty easy to predict all the issues that its DRM scheme would cause. Lo and behold, things turned out exactly like expected.

You talk about pre-orders like they are insane but really, is it that much different from buying a game you've never played? You obviously don't trust game reviewers, so their opinions are meaningless to you. Most games don't have demos either. Word of mouth can be useful but again, the only opinion that really matters is your own. Didn't you just buy Max Payne 3, even after admitting that you'd probably be disappointed by it? If you keep up with gaming news and pay attention to the details, you can usually get a good sense for how a game will end up.

Prez wrote on Jul 2, 2012, 07:51:Not sure how it happened, but having bought the Paradox pack last week, Amazon has informed me this week that I have extra keys for Victoria 2 and Sword of the Stars Complete to be used in Steam. If anyone wants either or both hit me up on Steam chat.

I saw some post about that on SD, I think they added it because of differences between the pack between last week and this? Something like that, so they emailed keys to previous week's purchasers.

As it happens I already own both (was only interested in Crusader Kings 2 and SotS2), so I have extra Steam keys for those, and Magicka as well. That's quite a bit of gaming I'm giving away gratis! No wonder everyone loves me!!

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” - Mahatma Gandhi

Prez wrote on Jul 2, 2012, 07:51:Not sure how it happened, but having bought the Paradox pack last week, Amazon has informed me this week that I have extra keys for Victoria 2 and Sword of the Stars Complete to be used in Steam. If anyone wants either or both hit me up on Steam chat.

StingingVelvet wrote on Jul 1, 2012, 20:10:Just got Spec Ops, Syndicate, Max Payne 3 and Darkness 2 on amazon all for like $80. Also got the Duke singleplayer DLC for funsies.

Why would anyone buy a game at release anymore unless it was a super favorite?

So true. These sales a few weeks later on AAA games has changed the way I buy games now. I was expecting a 10 to 15 dollar discount for MP3 soon but 30 bucks from Amazon is amazing! I'll be grabbing that tonite.

Lolwut? Not like those games are going to fall through like a Kickstarter project might. Even if by some bizarre occurrence they did, he'd be getting a refund instantly from any retailer that isn't run out of some dude's basement.

That isn't my point, my point is how utterly idiotic it is buying a game that nobody has played (beyond some shill "journalists") based on preview material designed by the developers to showcase only the very best aspects of their product. It's fucking insane. No developer has the kind of respect or consistency of quality that warrants such dedication. The Diablo 3 fiasco is a pretty good indicator of as much.

Kastagir wrote on Jul 2, 2012, 03:53:Crusader Kings 2 went on sale on Amazon for $9.99 again. It's a downloadable version that can be activated on Steam. If it goes on sale for the same price (-75%) during the Summer Sale, it will likely only be for a day. The Amazon sale will probably last until July 7.

Not sure how it happened, but having bought the Paradox pack last week, Amazon has informed me this week that I have extra keys for Victoria 2 and Sword of the Stars Complete to be used in Steam. If anyone wants either or both hit me up on Steam chat.

http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970727958/

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” - Mahatma Gandhi

Dev wrote on Jul 1, 2012, 16:58:Edit: The darkness 2 is on sale for about $12, anyone every try that?

I think it's fantastic. Some of the best voice acting I've hard in years, very solid action and a story that's actually not all bad. I've heard the co-op missions are good too but I haven't had a chance to try them. This was a criminally underappreciated release.

Is it anything like Darksiders? Bought that last year, and actually DL'd and played it, but only an hour. I just couldn't get into it. It was way too "consoly" for me: too many enemies, button mashing, very linear progression, 3rd person, etc.

Anyone have any impressions on CK II? Thinking about one of the bundles with it. It seems to have a lot of good word of mouth, just wondering if anyone here has played it. I don't mind a learning curve if it's worth it in the end.